Rintori - Divine fox
by Haruko Saruwatari
Summary: Rin meets a fox. A trapped and damaged fox, that is. He helps it, and it transforms into a human, a celestical being, and thus becomes his friend. Their lifes entwines together, and Rin finds himself falling for the fox until he discovers the horrible truth. The fox vanishes, and Rin wanders the spiritual world searching for his sister. Days later, Rin meets the fox, upbeat.


Before we jump

This was a part of my writing prompts, but here:

Rin and Nitori meets up days after the fox spirit just abandoned him one night, so the human decides to roams the spirit world in search for his sister's soul. Nitori has tangled himself into something bad again, and pulls Rin with him as they finally meet up, getting the human up in problems even the soul-stealing spirit won't be able to get out of.

"Here," the fox spirit said, short on breath as he handed Rin a teabag with white powder instead of the usual leaves. The young man accepted without further questioning, just focusing on the angry mob chasing them. They'd soon catch up with them, and then there would be no mercy. The fox spirit ran ahead of Rin.  
"Put it in your mouth when you're close to death!" he yelled, heaving for air. He seemed tired, too tired to keep running like that. Rin was in good shape though, through his hard training regiment, but even he had trouble with breathing.  
The spirit's clothing was torn, ripped in three like a psycho cutting its preys. As they ran, Rin noticed a faint limping in the spirit's running. Falling inbetween trees, they ran through the dark forest, keeping their minds clear in the rush and fear or the chasing ones.

Ai was terrified when he'd met up with Rin again, only grabbing him and told him to run his legs off. He was all beat up and refused to talk about it. The spirit wobbled so much he lost his balance as his ankle hit a rock, and fell over. A short gasp was heard before the loud thump appeared. Rin stopped and grabbed the thin arm and dragged him up. With a quick glance behind him, he could see the faint light from fire. They were close, closer than before.  
The blue light flickered as they passed the trees, getting closer, Rin felt his heart in his throat, pounding like it wanted to get out and hide. He heard faint yelling.

Ai was light, weighing almost nothing. Surprised by the light weight, he jerked the spirit up from the ground with accidentally too much power. Flying for a moment, Rin caught him in his arms, carrying him like a princess. His face was filled with pain, morphed into plain agony and frustration. Rin leaped over the rocks, roots, branches and bugs or whatever seemed to be in the damn forest. In his limited sight, some of the forest's spirits appeared for a second, as if they were watching in curiousity, but returned to the shadows when they smelled the fear. Rin kept running between the tall, dark trees. The skies were gone, showing off the glittery stars and the shiny moon. The white light from the sky was the only lightsource for Rin, and only 20% of the light hit the bottom of the forest where he ran ahead. His lungs felt like exploding, his dry throat hurt like acid, his legs were about to fall apart.

"It's me they want, so you should just drop me and run away while you still can, Mattsun.." Ai seemed frustrated and in pain as he got princess-carried.  
"We'll soon arrive at the cliff, and then we'll be trapped if we don't do something now.."  
Ai gasped for breath. Asking to let go, Rin obeyed and set the spirit free. A face covered in pain morphed across the fox's spirit as he placed the foot on the ground and applied weight on it.  
"Damnit.." Ai cursed low, repeating the word as a chant as he pushed himself forward, walking away from the angry mob.  
Far off in the distance in front of them was a clearing, showing glimpses of the ocean ahead.  
"If we get there.." Rin whispered, wondering how he could save the both of them.  
"Just leave me here, Mattsun. I'll keep them away so you can run off. And I'll give you an advice," the spirit stopped, turned toward the chasing people and began a chanting with a low voice.  
"If I fail and they come for you, please jump from the cliff. Please die."

"What?! Nitori, stop fucking around! Neither of us is going to die, and we're not gonna get captured by those.. chasers. Okay? Come on, Ai!" Rin yelled, momentarily changing his powerlevel of his voice so the chasers wouldn't head straight at them. He grabbed the slim hand of the spirit and ran toward the clearing. The spirit didn't let go, and he was relieved to know he still made some sense in the spirit's game.  
The cicadas chirped at it's loudest as they ran ahead, the small spirits in the forest hid in the trees as they passed. Rin heard Ai's chant kept going under the noisy bugs. His voice tuned lower and darker for each chant, and they finally seemed to work. Ropes appeared from the faint parts of the forest, leaping from tree to tree like a jumping snake, keeping up with it's master prey. They moved fast and coordinated, hard to notice as they ran. Not interfering in their way to the clearance, they concealed the rest of the forest behind them. When they were done with the concealing, their rattling disappeared and they began to glow in a blue, neon-like fire only the gods, spirits and deitys could make.

In a coordinated movement, the ropes whipped up and revealed white paper attached to the thick ropes, flickering in the little summer wind that reached inside the forest. The loud whip yelled in the forest, making it's way between the thick and old trees like a haunting ghost.  
Ai couldn't keep ut anymore. His leg hurt so badly he felt like cutting it off that exact moment. He used a tremendous amount of energy on his chanting, way more than he actually had left in his small body. Aijin-sama had really been a tough cookie to deal with, and this situation had called for drastic measures. The scars all over Ai's body scorched like acid and salt being rubbed into open wound, and it stole more of his non-existing energy. Just being alive seemed to be a punishment, the fox thought.  
The legs lost it's strength by each step he took, and he soon would lose consciousness and his life later on.

As they entered the clearing, Ai's legs gave up. And Rin heaved him into the middle of it.

The human let go of the spirit's hand in the middle of the flight, and Rin could see the confused thoughts in the blue eyes, wondering about this betrayal. The cold fingers left Rin's warm, and the spirit landed on the flat grass, rolling toward the cliff with mighty speed. With a margain of three meters, the spirit stopped rolling and layed still. His body heaved for oxygen, and the face twitched in pain.  
"So even a spirit can feel pain, huh?" Rin blurted out as he gasped for air too. His own legs were shaking, feeling drained with power from his whole body. Damn, he didn't need this drained, useless body of his. Resting his hands on his knees, he regained a small part of the energy. The enemy ran toward them, he could feel it. Their distant roars and clanching with armor filled Rin's ears, he became too aware of his own position. His heart was beating too hard, he was sure it would pop out of his chest any second. It would cut it's way through his chest, leap out as the blood would spill, and vanish in a trail of fresh, salty blood.  
Rin lifted his head and glanced toward the forest they'd just appeared from. He noticed the faint contour of the ropes and the white banning papers attached. The attackers were not in sight yet.  
He quickly glanced upon Ai the spirit that still laid down on the ground. His body heaved for air, but Rin could now get a better and closer view of his partner. And he seemed to be in a worse condition than Rin originally thought.

The white kimono was sliced more than three times; that was for sure. Lots of small cuts all over the silk looked like he'd been in a fight with a pretty skilled swordsman. He'd been sliced to pieces, and parts of the clothing was soaked in fresh, red blood. The spirit trembled as he tried to rise from the ground, revealing dark marks all over his naked skin. The pale skin colour was a big contrast to the dark, intense purple bruises he'd been served since the last time Rin saw him. Probably from his last destination.  
With a hesitant move, Ai wiped his mouth and stared at the blood in his trembling hand. Rin just stared at the spirit, as it seemed to have lost all conscious memories of their situation. The importance of their mission had vanished from the spirit's mind. He was blank, not looking at anything but the blood.  
Rin stared, unable to move.  
He was as under a spell, as if someone had paralyzed him. Behind him, the blue fire exploded as their target ran into the cursed rope. They were now fifty meters from the clearance. Fifty meters away from them.  
"What the hell are you doing, Nitori! If you stay like that we'll get caught!" Rin yelled, finally able to move his body. Grabbing the pale arm, he lifted the fox from the green grass. The spirit didn't use his own power to rise, acting like he was dead. Heavy as a sack of rice, he disobeyed Rin's wish to support his own body, and he seemed to have lost every will to keep running.  
"Stop acting like this, damnit!"  
Rin wheezed, snatching his tongue at the fox. His eyes caught a glimpse of the other's blue eyes, and he felt his heart stop for a moment. He dropped the spirit onto the green grass and stared at him from above.

The fox's eyes was filled with shock. Wide eyes only thinking about the shock and betrayal he'd experienced. His whole face had one question written upon itself.  
"Why did you throw me away?"  
It might not have been the thing Rin would think a spirit would be shocked by, but then he recalled something the fox had told him a while before.  
When they still laid on the ground and watched the stars.

"I have a fear of being disposed. Gods, demons, animals, humans; they're all the same. To hold onto a dear person, a mere human, only to be forgotten as it grows up and forgets you. To be left behind with no value, that is. To not even be worthy a memory in their mind.."

The fox had trusted him as he threw him, and felt the dark thoughts gather and morph together as he threw him away, feeling the dark thoughts crawl all over him the moment he let go. The moment Rin let go of the spirit's cold hand. In the moment the spirit trusted him the most, he'd let go with no second thought. Shock of betrayal.  
Ai's blue eyes shone in a dim light, the matt surface in his eyes had a touch of darkness inside, like he was already dead. He looked like his ball of energy had rolled down the cliff.  
"Oy, Nitori-sama! We have to escape, damnit! Show them your flames and get us out of here!" Rin's brows wrinkled together as he got more frustrated and helpless. His mind didn't think straight, and all he could think of was how much he'd give for the spirit's powers. If only HE had the power.

The chasers came closer, he heard their footsteps roar against the ground, focused upon the catching of the runaways. Swiping his eyes down to the fox again, he clicked his tongue. The fox was as useful as a dead body. He didn't respond to anything verbal, and Rin was desperate. The dark marks on the spirit's skin looked like inked spots on his white porcelain-skin.  
In a desperate attempt to wake up the fox, he raised his hand and swiped the pale face, creating a hollow whack. The slap left a red and fiery mark of his hand, and Ai began to fell tears. The white appeared in his eyes again and his pupils focused on Rin's face.  
"What did you do..?" he asked, the lower lip trembled as he slowly touched the damaged skin. Guilt rose in his chest, but he shook it off himself.  
"If we don't run now, we'll get killed! What got into you, spacing out like that?! Focus on getting away, will ya?" Rin placed the fox on it's feet and grabbed his hand. The tears kept falling, and Rin whipped them with his own hand.  
"Could you please wipe out the enemy now?" he asked, and turned to face the forest. He didn't see it, but the spirit nodded silently.

Ai shivered as he began chanting, with pain written all over him. The enemy appeared from the shadows with slow steps. As they walked out of the dark forest and stepped into the sunlight, Rin could finally get a face of their chasers.  
Soldier-like minions lurked forward, heaving toward them with serious faces. Their hands rested on the shafts of their swords. Ready to draw them out, some of the minions was already clear to slice them open if signalized. They created a half circle around Rin and Nitori, placing them in between the enemy and the cliff. They began chanting their own attack.  
Their murmuring magic released a dark blue circle over Rin and Ai, pouring a paralyzing power to freeze their movements. It felt like the gravity would crush their bones, suck them down into the hell they all knew.

The fox screamed in pain as both his chant and leg broke.  
The dark circle over them looked like a transparent waterfall as the gravity flowed down. It felt like a car had been placed on Rin's shoulders, and all he could do was buckle under for the crushing defeat. It forced him down on his knees, but no matter how heavy it became, he also felt lighter, like something was being drawn out of him. His shoulders felt crushingly light, being both pulled and pushed in different directions.  
Ai's screams penetrated his ears, only hearing the fox's painful yelps for help. Catching a glimpse of the spirit by his side, he could tell that he himself was in the least pain.

The fox was covered in blood as he screamed, his wounds opened and soaked him in the fresh liquid. His twitching movements caused him more pain, his teeth tried to clench together but it was too painful to do. A dark shadow seemed to rise from the spirit's body, like the parts escaped from gravity, floating like thick steam in the air. It looked like a thick, black, wet fog that rose. And it was a tremendous amount. It welled out of the fox, but he didn't seem to care. Rin's vision turned blurry, and the moment he thought he would pass out, the lown chanting stopped and the circle vanished.  
Still conscious, Rin now laid on the ground with his head facing his partner in pain. He'd stopped bailing and sat on his legs in silence, head on the ground. His breath was heavy.

A being walked toward them with slow movements, taking it's time. Rin could barely move, but he angled his head just right to get a grip on their chaser. He seemed to be the leader of this hunt.

In a big kimono, a tall human-like being narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue as he approached Nitori. The short, dark hair swayed in the calm breeze as he just considered the weak spirit in front of him. He seemed angry, wrinkling his eyebrows and seemed like he was going to roar.  
The chaser's broad shoulders placed Nitori in the shadow of the sun, making the other seem more powerful and overruling. His left shoulder leaned further down than the other, and a big bandage was revealed aw he stripped off one of the sleeves.  
He undid the bandage surrounding the shoulder, and revealed a fresh, bloody wound. It had just started to heal, but the blood had still soaked the bandage, as well as the kimono. With no difference in facial expression, the man in the kimono grabbed Nitori by his hair with the damaged arm. The spirit didn't yelp, but groaned as the strong hand grabbed and almost ripped his head off. Their faces were almost touching as the tall observed him like an interesting, dead animal. He clicked his tongue again.  
"Is this what you're up to?" he asked with a dark voice. Nitori didn't say a word.  
"I asked, the man said, raising his voice, -Is **this** what you're up to?!"  
His raging voice rumbled like thunder as he repeated his question with great anger.  
The clouds appeared above them and gathered slowly. The wind increased from a gentle breeze to a stronger autumn-like nose-biter.  
"R-Raijin-sama!" One of the soldiers with their swords out and ready to stab, didn't seem comfortable with the change of weather.  
"Please.. Please calm down." The soldier closest to Rin pleaded with a clear uncertainty claiming his voice.

Raijin?

Rin tried to focus his blurry eyes on the tall being who'd smash his friend's brain out any time now. He could hear thunder in the distance, or was it that guy's voice? There was no way to tell.

"Tell me, you stupid dog!" he raged, the clouds stirred into a whirlpool, and the soldiers all took a step back. They seemed confused and afraid as they gazed up at the sky. None of them had seen their master lose his temper like that before, not since they'd been hired.  
Waving the lifeless body like it was a disgustingly filthy clothing, he smashed the gray-haired spirit into the ground in a sudden movement. Switching grip, he aimed for Nitori's throat and lifted him like he weighted nothing.  
The spirit harked and gasped for air as he regained consciousness, clawed at the bare hand that held him in the air. The tall being chuckled, grinning. His white, sharp teeth were visible. His wound pulsated as it spit blood and repaired itself.  
"This wound won't heal, ya know?" he said, calming his roaring voice. His face screamed revenge and death, but his voice was scarier. It was threatening on a completely different level. Their faces grew closer. The man's breath tasted like Matcha tea and seaweed.  
"What potion did you use to drug me?"  
His voice was soft as a kitten's fur, and he tilted his head to the side. This god was getting scary. Even scarier than what he would be like in drunk condition.

 _I must get Mattsun away from this._

The fox spirit wagged his tail discreetly, and tried to catch a glimpse at Rin who still seemed to still stay behind him on his knees.

Good, Mattsun seemed to get his eyesight back, just as he himself had fully recovered from the blindness the chanting resulted in. All the human could do now, would be to run away. No, he'd be catched. Nitori's head was a mess as he tried to find another way out of this, which wouldn't result in the human dying. In his mind, he wanted to cry. He knew this so well, but he still wanted another option.

But that option would never appear.

Doing his best in being discreet, he pointed at the cliff with his small fingers. He tried to angle his head so he could mimic the words to him, but the being suffocated him before he could form his mouth.  
"Filthy fox, what drug did you use!" The black-haired god grabbed harder around his neck, and he let out a short 'Ack!' before the god turned to look at the now standing human.  
"What, you're not dead yet? Oh wait, where have I seen you.." the god didn't get any further before he got interrupted by the cracking voice of his choking prey.

"RUN MATTSUN!"

The human did as the fox asked him to. In a moment, the red-haired human had already turned his heels toward the hunters and chasers before he leaped toward the cliff, took off at the egde and jumped.

The man felt a warm spot on his hand appear, and then another. As he looked down, he realized.

The fox cried silently in the hand of the god.


End file.
